Xie Jinzhu was practically chased and beaten all the way through the door.
It wasn’t that she didn’t want to explain—it was mainly because Second Aunt, who was doing the beating, didn’t give her the slightest chance to speak. She had grabbed a dead tree branch by the roadside and chased her relentlessly, beating her as she went.
Second Aunt also had astonishing lung capacity, managing to curse nonstop even while chasing and hitting her.
Xie Jinzhu dodged into the house, her shoulders covered in spit, and the hen she had brought to settle the debt was so frightened that its feathers flew everywhere.
Xie Dahua was shocked at the sight. “How did you…”
Xie Wuni pointed at the hen in Xie Jinzhu’s hand, which was nearly scared bald, and shouted angrily, “Xie Jinzhu, you actually dared to steal a chicken!”
Xie Jinzhu: “…”
Xie Jinzhu snapped, “Who stole a chicken?”
“This is clearly…”
“Catch her now!”
Second Aunt, brandishing the tree branch, caught up and nearly crashed into the door in her fury. Everyone inside and outside the house turned to look.
Under the watchful eyes of the crowd, Xie Jinzhu’s mind went blank. She tossed the half-dead hen backward, threw the cloth toward Xie Wuni, who was rolling up her sleeves, and ran into the house clutching the medicine package. “Grandma!”
“My dear, dear grandma!”
“Your granddaughter has brought back medicine for you!”
Xie Jinzhu ran toward Old Mrs. Xie’s room without looking back.
When the others, who had rushed back upon hearing the commotion, heard her say the word “granddaughter” with her own mouth, even Second Aunt froze for a moment.
Second Aunt held the tree branch, her gaze unfocused, murmuring, “Granddaughter?”
“She actually admitted it…”
She had chased and beaten her all the way, refusing to give up hope of hearing a strong rebuttal.
She had wanted to see this little brat roar confidently at her, claiming to be the only male descendant of the Old Xie Family, the golden grandson and sole heir, and that everyone else was talking nonsense.
But she had actually admitted she was a girl…
Second Aunt couldn’t hide her fear as she looked around at the others, only to find that their expressions weren’t much better than hers.
Second Uncle Xie’s face was ashen. “She’s really a girl?”
Xie Dahua opened her mouth weakly.
Xie Wuni shouted with red eyes, “She’s just pretending!”
“Grandma saw it with her own eyes and fainted from anger!”
“Xie Jinzhu is a girl. She’s been deceiving us all along, and Third Uncle and Third Aunt helped her deceive the whole family!”
Eldest Uncle Xie and his wife remained silent, while the others paled instantly as their last shred of hope was shattered.
A suffocating silence descended, enveloping every member of the Xie family.
Inside the room, Xie Jinzhu let out a long, relieved sigh.
The doctor had been brought back by Eldest Uncle Xie, while Third Master Xie and his wife were inside caring for Old Mrs. Xie with their other biological daughter.
The doctor took the medicine package Xie Jinzhu had brought back, examined it carefully, and nodded. “The medicine is correct. Boil it with three bowls of water until one bowl remains, then bring it quickly to feed her.”
Third Master Xie immediately took the medicine and ran out.
The doctor then looked at Xie Jinzhu and said, “Your hand injury also needs medicine.”
When Old Mrs. Xie had crashed into the table, she had truly wanted to die, using all her strength.
The hand Xie Jinzhu had used to block the table corner had later been used to hit someone and then to flee for her life. After repeated strain, it had swollen and turned a frightening shade of blue and purple.
Xie Jinzhu awkwardly tucked her hand into her sleeve and forced a dry laugh. “It’s fine.”
As long as she could move it, it was just flesh pain. Since the bones weren’t injured, it only looked scary and would heal with time.
Before Madam Wang could speak, tears began streaming uncontrollably down her face.
Xie Jinzhu took a slow breath and was about to say something when she heard a commotion erupting in the courtyard: “Third Master, you and your wife must give us an explanation for this matter!”
Xie Jinzhu was stunned for a moment before quickly rushing out.
Outside, chaos had already broken out.
Second Aunt had first experienced indescribable despair. After learning that Old Mrs. Xie’s condition had stabilized, an overwhelming wave of anger followed.
They had been deceived by the third branch of the family for over a decade!
More than ten years had passed, and only today did they realize they had been kept in the dark all along!
Second Aunt was both shocked and furious: “Search your conscience and ask yourselves, in all these years, where have we ever wronged the third branch?”
“You’ve conspired to keep us in the dark for so many years—has your conscience been eaten by dogs?!”
Third Master Xie and his wife had already lost all their strength facing Old Mrs. Xie’s breakdown. Now, confronted with the anger of their elder brother and sister-in-law, the couple hung their heads in shame, unable to utter a single word.
They hadn’t wanted things to turn out this way…
But this was the stubborn decision of the late Old Master, and with his dying wish standing in the way, they truly…
“What are you shouting about?”
Second Uncle Xie grabbed Second Aunt and said urgently, “So many people are watching you, you…”
“What’s wrong with me shouting?!”
Second Aunt pushed away the person holding her back, fuming: “How much silver has our family poured into this over the years?”
“Now a flimsy ‘we were wrong’ is supposed to settle everything?!”
“Xie the Second, let me tell you, there’s no such logic in this world!”
The third branch had worked hard over the years, sparing no effort when it came to earning money. Both husband and wife had toiled relentlessly.
But so what?
Did that mean only the third branch was working, while the rest of them sat idle, twiddling their thumbs and freeloading?
They had willingly endured hardships, hoping for the only heir of the Old Xie Family to succeed.
But now, their precious son had turned out to be a girl—this matter couldn’t just be brushed aside!
Madam Wang, her eyes red, tried to explain: “Second Sister-in-law, back then, it was really Father who said…”
“Don’t you dare drag that into this!”
Second Aunt snapped angrily: “Father may have started this lie, but he’s long turned to dust and bones. Have you two been mute all these years?”
“Or did you keep quiet because you were enjoying the benefits, stuffing your mouths with sticky rice cakes until you couldn’t speak?”
If even one of the couple from the third branch had spoken up, would they have been deceived for so many years?
Madam Wang’s face turned deathly pale, unable to reply.
For many years, the original host, unwilling to lose the privilege of being the only heir doted on by the entire family, had repeatedly threatened suicide whenever Third Master Xie and his wife considered confessing. Her madness had forced them to continue keeping the secret.
They had missed one opportunity after another to come clean, and looking back now, they realized they were indebted at every turn.
Third Master Xie suppressed his guilt and said, “Second Sister-in-law, we’ve wronged everyone in this matter, so…”
“Wronged us?”
Second Aunt let out a cold laugh: “Aside from the mouth of your fake son, every single person in this family, young or old, deserves that apology from you!”
Third Master Xie and his wife had never been eloquent.
Years of repression had made them increasingly silent. Now, faced with angry questioning, they were at a loss for words and could only lower their heads in confusion.
Seeing this, Second Aunt grew even angrier: “Stop trying to fob us off with useless words!”
“I won’t fall for your tricks!”
Eldest Aunt seemed unable to bear it and weakly tugged at the furious Second Aunt, saying, “Second Sister-in-law, why don’t we just do as your eldest brother suggested?”
“Let’s not make a scene.”
In the eyes of the Xie brothers, filial piety outweighed all else.
Since this was the old master’s dying wish, despite their many disappointments, they could only accept it with resignation.
Eldest Uncle Xie bitterly forced out a word of concession, only to be met with Second Aunt’s even more furious roar: “Why should we just let it go?”
“You, Eldest Brother, are kind-hearted and don’t mind the money, but I still care about my own daughter!”
“That black-hearted wretch who deserves a thousand cuts and ten thousand slices—how much humiliation have my Second Niece and Fourth Niece suffered in their in-laws’ homes because of her?”
“For her sake alone, they even borrowed money from their in-laws. You say ‘let it go’ so lightly, but how are my two girls supposed to live?”
“Who will take responsibility for all the debts the family owes?!”
“I will.”
Second Aunt’s roar came to an abrupt halt, and everyone looked in disbelief at the person who had spoken.
Xie Jinzhu took a deep breath under the weight of many complicated gazes, meeting everyone’s eyes without flinching, and said word by word: “Because the debts I owe are mine to bear.”
“No matter how much debt there is, I accept it.”